Get Me Off This Planet
by Cyclonus743
Summary: A story about the Word Of Blake occupation of Solaris VII
1. Chapter 1

I don't own Battletech or Mechwarrior. Topps does all hail Topps.

Prologue

Silesia, Solaris City

Solaris VII

Lyran Alliance

November 14, 3070

Chris Gamora, sitting in the command couch of his 95 ton _Sagittaire_, took stock of his weapons. They were all energy weapons so he knew that as long as he managed his heat he could outlast the mech, a _Vanquisher_, on the other side of the Steiner Coliseum. He looked at his command console. No red light. _The announcer must still be setting up the fight,_ he thought. _Duncan Fisher was always a blowhard._

The press was already calling him the savior of Solaris VII and he had not even beaten Jenkins. It was widely known that Bobby Jenkins was a Champion only by the grace of the Word of Blake. When the previous champ's ammo bin had exploded without Jenkins landing a shot, the fix was clear.

The red light flickered on, signaling the start of the match. Located at the southern edge of the arena, Chris jumped his _Sagittaire_ up an embankment and surveyed the field. He saw Jenkins' _Vanquisher_ sitting in the northeast corner on a raised surface. _Figures_, thought Chris, _somehow the Word has gotten that monster up where I can't shoot him._

Chris, undaunted, moved his mech toward the Blakist's corner. As he did, the _Vanquisher_ opened up on Chris' mech. The mech's light guass rifles struck armor on Chris' right arm and torso. The medium lasers cut long gashes in his left arm and torso, while the large laser melted armor from his leg. A third medium laser went wide. A smaller mech would have fallen under such an assault. All it did was score some armor on the 95 ton beast. Chris responded with his PPC and large pulse lasers, boring into the _Vanquisher_'s torso.

Chris blasted the _Vanquisher _again with his heavy weapons. The _Vanquisher_ fired from its high perch, scoring a hit with the large laser on the shielding that contains the fusion reactor that the powers the 95 ton _Sagittaire,_ sending a blast of heat into Chris's cockpit. He knew that a few more hits like that and they would be cleaning him off the walls of the coliseum.

The _Vanquisher_ tried to back away from the cliff. But it was too late to save him from the withering blasts from Chris' lasers. The blast of the _Sagittaire_'s lasers took the legs out of the _Vanquisher_, causing it to lose its footing on the ledge and tumble to the floor of the arena. Amazingly, the squat, top heavy mech did not crush its cockpit when it hit the ground.

As Chris stalked forward, laying into the _Vanquisher_ with his heavy weapons, Jenkins stood his mech up and returned with a withering assault of his own. Chris was able to keep his mech up. The _Vanquisher_ took another powerful blast from Chris and collapsed.

Chris, taking stock of his armor and realizing he wouldn't be able to keep it up much longer, prepared himself for the blast of heat that would come when he fired his next desperate blast. The shots from the _Vanquisher_'s volley did not breach armor. Chris' assault was not so harmless. The mech's lasers melted armor all over the 100 ton assault mech. One of the medium lasers struck the guass rifle on the left arm. The capacitors exploded, completely destroying the huge mech's arm and sending it spinning of across the battlefield. He saw the green smoke signaling multiple heat sinks being destroyed. The large laser in the left torso was destroyed as well. Chris then saw a spike of heat signaling a hit on Jenkins' engine shielding. The 100 ton monster stood there for a split second, smoke rising from the armor, shredded by Chris's hellish assault. Then the huge mech fell backward, crushing armor on impact.

The heat from Chris' alpha strike was overwhelming. He pressed the shutdown override to no avail. The overheated mech also fell as the controls gave no response. Chris flew into the safety harness on the impact, smashing his head into his mech's view screen. After a few moments the heat sinks did their jobs and removed the heat from Chris's mech, allowing it to restart. Chris sluggishly stood up his mech. His opponent's mech was still on its side. Chris looked at his monitor to see if the fight would be called since Jenkins had not stood yet. There had been no indication, so Chris fired again, ravaging the fallen mech. The medium lasers sliced into _Vanquisher_'s head, killing the pilot.

Chris Gamora had just become the Champion of Solaris.


	2. Chapter 2

I don't own Battletech or Mechwarrior. Topps does all hail Battlemechs and Baseball cards,

Chapter 1

Silesia, Solaris City

Solaris VII

Lyran Commonwealth

November 15, 3070

It was midnight on Solaris VII, but Thor's Shieldhall was almost empty. The former champ, Bobby Jenkins from the Word of Blake, had just been killed by Chris Gamora, a fan favorite hailing from the Federated Suns. However, the famous nightclub was doing slow business. The Word of Blake had cleared out the club every hour on the hour.

There was one portion of the club even the Word of Blake would not dare intrude upon. Valhalla, the exclusive club for the elite of the Solaris VII's 'Mech arena circuit, was much more subdued than the gaudy nightclub downstairs. The clientele of Valhalla was a strange mix of 'Mech Jocks, 'Mech stable owners, and castoff nobles. The room was decorated like a Norse banquet hall with a large wooden table that stretched from one end of the large room to the other. Patrons sat on a long wooden bench, and the only lighting in the room was a few well placed torches. Around the outside wall of the room were private alcoves used by the elite of Solaris, and they were more coveted than the championship. In one these alcoves a lone man looked over the party being thrown in Chris Gamora's honor.

Jonan Gregor's eyes stung from looking at the data pad all night. He was a small man with brown hair. His face was aged from the stress of many battles. He knew he needed to sleep, but he also knew his work was far from done. Jonan had a problem. A veteran of the Clan war and the FedCom Civil War, he had been on Tharkad when the Katherine Steiner Loyalists had been defeated. He had also seen two thirds of his mercenary regiment killed in the bloody fighting alongside of the Kell Hounds during the War.

Jonan had immediately sent messages to his contacts on Outreach to get a short list of reliable Mechwarriors needing jobs. Jonan had gotten the response the same day The Word of Blake launched their assault on humanity.

After sending out invitations to the various Mechwarriors, Jonan found that most of them had been based on Outreach. Unfortunately, none of the targets on Outreach received their invites. The Word of Blake arrived first.

The hardware was much easier to come by. Jonan had lined up replacement Battlemechs and Aerospace fighters. The fighters were delivered easily, and Jonan would only order the 'Mechs for delivery if the mechwarriors he hired were dispossessed.

Jonan had at first contacted the old hiring halls of Galatea after the fall of Outreach. Unfortunately, that avenue was soon cut off as well when the Word of Blake arrived on Solaris VII. While they did not interdict most communications, they did not hesitate to refuse business to a known associate of the Kell Hounds.

Jonan had been lucky and had gotten answers from Galatea before the Word had shut him down. He was able to fill nearly all of his lances as well as his air wing. Unfortunately he was a 'Mech company short. He knew that he could not get into the fight against the Word of Blake if his unit was not up to full strength.

Jonan had decided to comb the arenas of Solaris VII to fill out his last company. He knew this was risky. He knew that being a hot Solaris Jock and a reliable Mechwarrior were not always one and the same. He also had to be careful since many of Solaris VII's fighters had sided with the Word of Blake during the invasion, even going so far as to kill their stable mates in the fighting. After the fighting in Solaris City had died down, there was an uneasy truce between the Blakists and the rest of the population that had not fled the city.

Jonan had been successful in rebuilding his lances, but he needed one more warrior to fill out his battalion. He had been reviewing the same dossier for hours. The only name left was the only one that made any sense. The problem was that he hated the owner of the name on the data pad. He was an excellent mechwarrior with battlefield experience, but he was also smug and arrogant. The events earlier that night would probably make that worse. However, Jonan could not escape it; he had to recruit Chris Gamora.

Recruiting Gamora would be easier said than done. Gamora was an independent fighter, which meant he did not fight for a stable. That was probably how he was able to fly enough below the Word of Blake's radar to get into a title match, let alone win. While he would promote himself, most of the other veteran fighters on Solaris VII hated him and disregarded him in the news vids.

Jonan had been spending the whole night figuring out how he would go about recruiting the notoriously difficult Gamora, and he thought he might have a plan.

Most of the people celebrating tonight were not necessarily there because of Chris Gamora, but there because of the defeat of the Blakist champion. Gamora was far from the center of attention. Gamora was a pretty boy. Unlike many mechwarriors, he wore his blond hair long. He sat at a dais reserved for the champion at the head of the long table. He lorded over his domain with a bored look. He hated not being the center of attention.

Jonan steeled himself for what he had to do. He left the safety of his alcove and made his way to the dais. He walked up behind Gamora and leaned in. "We need to talk, Gamora."

Gamora snorted.

"I'm not joking, kid. You should really come meet me in my alcove."

"All right 'Dad'," said Gamora with a sneer.

Gamora followed Jonan back to the alcove. After motioning to Gamora to take a seat Jonan sat down and immediately switched on the white noise generator so that they could not be heard from the outside.

Gamora started. "I don't know what you heard about me but……."

"Shut up you idiot," Jonan cut him off. "Before you get comfortable as the new champion you should remember what happened to the last champion that didn't wear a robe and worship a toaster."

Gamora tried to speak.

"I said shut up, idiot. I have a proposition for you. Personally I don't care if you ever defend that championship or not. But it would be a shame if a mechwarrior of your caliber were to be killed in his sleep, or on the way home, or in a sabotaged 'Mech. So like I said, I have an offer for you. More to the point, I have a job offer for you. I need another lance commander. Most of the people I pulled out of the stables on Solaris are good fighters but they have little to no battlefield experience and I don't have enough reliable people to lead all my lances. I know you fought during the civil war. If you join the Moon Knights you'll be under our protection."

"Well what's to stop the Word of Blake from just coming after me in your stable's compound?"

"Do I detect a hint of fear in your voice? Well to assuage your fears you should know that as soon as possible we will getting off this rock."

"Well now, that's great, but one question. How do you plan on getting past the Blakist air superiority, and even if you do, how are you gonna get out of system? Last I heard the robes weren't allowing any jumpships to stay in system."

"Well it wouldn't be a secret plan if I went around telling anyone who asked. You could decline my offer, get picked up by some ROM agent and after a few, let's say, minutes of torture you give up my plans right before they shoot you in the head. Or take you to the Coliseum and let you 'defend your title'."

"Why would they pick me up for talking to you?"

"Well, I spotted at least two ROM agents in Valhalla tonight." Gamora gave a stunned look. "Don't be shocked. It's no secret that the robes have a fairly inept intelligence service. Plus, those two were a little too happy about your win tonight. I noticed that they were the only ones to give you more than a passing congratulation."

"When you put it that way, I can't really refuse can I? I guess I will take you up on your offer."

"Good." Jonan smiled and hit a button on his comlink. "Our escorts should be outside in a few minutes. Oh, by the way, welcome to the Moon Knights." Jonan heard the rumble of his unit's 'Mechs heading toward Thor's Shieldhall.

After waiting about 10 minutes Jonan took Gamora down to the exit. As they left the club, Chris Gamora saw for the first time the Moon Knights' elite assault lance. Each of the four 'Mechs was painted pitch black with the exception of a silvery crescent moon on the right leg. The four massive assault 'Mechs, a _Marauder II_, a _Battlemaster_, a clan built _Masakari_, and a brand new AS7-S2 _Atlas_ stood surrounding the limo. Gamora shuttered when he saw the heavy gauss rifle mounted on the _Atlas_. The two mechwarriors hurried into the car. Flanked by the assault mesh they sped off into the night.


	3. Chapter 3

I don't own Battletech or Mechwarrior never did.

Chapter 2

Outskirts of Solaris City

Solaris VII

Lyran Commonwealth

November 16, 3070

Jonan woke up the next morning with a start. His alarm was going off and he was not sure why. After wiping the sleep out of his eyes, he realized that he had to get up and get to work. As he went through his morning routine, it hit him. He had hired the biggest headache on Solaris VII. He realized that he had to get his staff together ASAP. This would take some explaining. An hour later Jonan gathered his senior officers together.

He looked around the round table in the meeting room, seeing the faces of the people that had been with him since he had formed the unit ten years ago. To his right sat Jonan's XO, Sarah Steiner. She was the youngest daughter of a cadet line of House Steiner. She liked to joke that there were people not yet conceived that were before her in the line of succession. She was about 5'6" with short brown hair cut so that the neuroreceptors in the neurohelmet made better contact. She had grown up on Arc Royal and had been recommended to Jonan by the great Morgan Kell himself.

Next to her sat his fire support lance's commander, Artemis. He was a tall, skinny man with a gaunt face. He was a Rasalhague ex-patriot who had lost his parents when Clan Wolf steamrolled New Bergen. Afterward he had been adopted by an uncle in the Draconis Combine, then sent to the prestigious Sun Zhang Mechwarrior Academy. After three years he had been expelled when the ISF had learned he was a Rasalhague ex-pat. When Jonan met him on Solaris VII he had been a pretty rough kid. Under his jacket one could see part of a large tattoo that identified him as a member of the Yakuza on Solaris. That hard living still showed on the man.

Next to him sat Jube Nakamashi, the commander of Jonan's elite jump capable fast attack lance and Sho Takagi, the commander of Jonan's medium battle company. Both of these men were native Kuritans, wore Yakuza tattoos, and sported prosthetic arms, having been injured during the Fedcom Civil War. While they were no Justin Allard, they were becoming more competent using the prosthetics while piloting their 'Mechs.

Next to them sat the CO of the Moon Knights' Aerospace Squadron. Don "Ace" London was tall for a fighter pilot. Even as early in the morning as it was he wore aviator glasses and what looked like an ancient Terran bomber jacket.

Next to Ace sat the commander of Jonan's elite Assault lance. When standing, he reached six feet above the floor, looking like he had stepped from the Hall of Thor. His short blonde hair, shaved at the temples, marked him as a MechWarrior, and the blue and white six-legged bear tattooed on his shoulder marked him as a Ghost Bear. Mechwarrior Tor of the Ghost Bears was here on the orders of Khan Bjorn Jorgensson. Ten years or so ago Jonan had suggested to the Khan that it might be a good idea for one of his clan to come learn the tactics of Inner Sphere mercenaries personally as the Ghost Bears were moving to the Inner Sphere. To everyone's surprise, none more than Jonan, Khan Bjorn had agreed.

Next to Tor sat the commander of Jonan's Armored Infantry Platoon, Colin O'neil. O'neil had been a member of the Comguards and ROM. After pulling a shady black op that did not go as quietly as needed, Comstar disavowed him. Jonan had picked him up on Solaris after the Civil War. He stood about 6'3" with red hair.

Finally, sitting between O'neil and Jonan was David Hasek. He, like Sarah, was a cast off noble from a cadet line. He was a tall but skinny. His was the commander of the Moon Knights' Heavy 'Mech Company, The Destroyers. He had all but been exiled from the Cappellan March for reasons unknown to Jonan. Jonan had also met him on Solaris.

Jonan sat down at his place at the table. He felt like King Arthur. _If King Arthur had been a fast talking son-of-a-bitch who fought other people's wars for large sums of money,_ thought Jonan. He chuckled to himself. He then got serious. "Well I've got good news and bad news. Well mostly bad news. We now have a new scout company commander with real combat experience." Jonan sighed. "Problem is the mechwarrior is Chris Gamora."

The reaction was a mix of shock and annoyance, all except for Sarah. "Well, we all knew it was the only choice," she said calmly.

Ace looked appalled first at Jonan then at Sarah. "Gamora? That punk is going to get us all killed."

"Well I think that may be a little much, Ace," said Jonan. "If you have a better idea, I'm open to it. If you are hiding another combat veteran who is an expert in light tactics, please cough him up." After that Jonan's staff gave in.

"The plan stays the same. O'neil, I need you to outfit your men with light battle armor. David, Sho, I need you two to start bringing in your people. Eric Grey will have to keep fighting the robes without us. Ace, make sure your people are ready to go. We may need you to clear a hole. This all hinges on O'neil being able to get the message off. We don't lift off until everyone is on a dropship. Now I need to go fill in Gamora."

Jonan's headquarters was located in an old firebase that had been abandoned years ago. As the games grew, it became bad business for any of the successor states to interfere militarily on Solaris VII. Jonan had been able to purchase the building while he was competing in the arenas. It had multiple mechbays, enough to house Jonan's mech battalion. He found the champ in the mechbay dedicated to Jonan's HQ Company. Gamora was looking at a massive _Masakari_.

"Like what you see?" Jonan asked as he approached.

"Yes, I do. When do I get to take her out for a spin?"

"Well, as soon as you fight Tor for it. But, I should warn you. Clanners, especially Ghost Bears, don't generally take kindly to people trying to take their 'Mechs."

"Well, what will I be driving?"

"Oh it's not in here. You're gonna have to come with me." Jonan led Gamora across the compound to what at first had seemed like an empty mechbay. Inside the mechbay stood a lone machine.

As they approached the 'Mech, Gamora got his first up close look. "What is this piece of hunk of junk?"

"That is your 'Mech. It is a Spirit."

"What happened to the legs?" The 35 ton Jade Falcon built 'Mech looked fine except for the legs. They were deformed and covered in a patchwork of armor.

"Well, a few years back, Artemis, one of my best mechwarriors, was led into a mine field and the legs were destroyed beyond any hope of repair. Since then our techs have been using salvage to rebuild the leg structure and replace the armor. It's not pretty, but my head tech says it moves just like new. Here is the deal. I need a commander for my scout company. From the file I got from the AFFS liaison on planet, I read that you were an expert in scout tactics and knew how to run a scout operation."

"Do I have much of a choice?"

"Not really."

"Well then I guess I'm in."

"Good, we have a briefing at noon tomorrow to go over the plan to get off this world."

Outskirts of Solaris City

Solaris VII

Lyran Commonwealth

November 17, 3070

A day after Jonan officially gave Chris Gamora the job as company commander, every lance leader in the battalion met in the Moon Knights' briefing room. The battalion's lances had returned to base the night before. Jonan stood at the front of the room with a holo-projector behind him.

"Welcome back, everyone," Jonan began. "I hope you all gave the Word of Blake militia all kinds of hell. Well, let's begin." Jonan brought up a map of Solaris City on the projector. "I don't know about you people, but I'm ready to get off this rock and really get into the fight against these damned robes. There are two things we need to address. We have to get our people successfully into our dropships, and we have to get a jumpship out of system. As for the first problem, that is easy. We move in a combat formation towards the spaceport. Unless something has changed in the past few days, the dropships are not being guarded by the robes. I would guess this is because they don't expect us to try and go anywhere with their blockade of the system. As for the jumpship, that is going to be a bit more difficult. Luckily I have had a plan in place since the Word showed up in-system. I sent our jumpship off with orders to be at a nearby system so I can get them a message. Now normally, getting that message out would be a problem since the Word controls the HPGs here. But thankfully, O'neil knows how to operate a HPG. So to that end, O'neil will take his men in light armor to the closest uplink break into the building and send the message. We won't send 'Mech support in an attempt to gain a modicum of surprise. But fear not, help will be close. Alright, we have a more detailed printout of the operation for you to brief your men with. When you are done I expect them to be destroyed. Get it done. We will be painting the 'Mechs in parade colors in hopes that it throws off the robes. We move out in 48 hours."

As the lance commanders filed out of the briefing room Jonan saw Don approach the dais. "Why do my people get left out of the operation?" Don asked angrily. "We've been on the ground for almost two years, and the first op we go on, we are grounded."

"Ace, calm down," said Jonan with a raised eyebrow. "You aren't being left out. That briefing was mainly for the ground pounders. I'm going to need you in the air as a screen for the dropships. It's my hope that by the time we get to the jump point, the jumpship will be in-system. However, if it's not, you will need to protect the dropship from any Word attackers."

"Well if that's the case then I'm sorry. This being cooped up planet side has got me on my last nerve."


	4. Chapter 4

I don't own Battletech or Mechwarrior.

I posted the TO&E of the Moon Knights on my Profile.

Solaris City

Solaris VII

Lyran Commonwealth

November 19, 3070

Jonan sat in the command couch of his _Mad Cat Mk 2_. He had already sent O'neil and his platoon to the HPG station. He has set Jube's jump lance on standby in case the infantry needed support, and sent Gamora and his company to secure the spaceport, as well as Hasek's heavies and Sho's combat company. He planned to use his command company as shepherd and a cover for the whole operation.

Colin O'neil began moving his people down the street toward the Montenegro HPG station. He, unlike the rest of his people, who were encased in Grey Death Standard battle armor, wore Grey Death Scout so he could use the manipulator to operate the HPG. He took a look down the street, then turned toward his XO. "Stevers, keep an eye out. I don't like it that this street is so empty." Stevers just nodded his head.

They approached the compound. O'neil used hand signals to send his squad into the compound. All of the members of his squad carried heavy machine guns. The rest of the Level 2 was armed with small lasers in case 'Mechs showed up. He carried a Mauser 960, and he didn't like to say where he got it. He ordered his men to open up into the front office of the HPG office with their machine guns. After about 10 seconds, he cut the fire. He then ordered the rest of his men to set up a perimeter around the Word of Blake compound.

He walked into the office followed by his squad. He stepped over the broken bodies of the Word of Blake acolytes that littered the front office. As he moved toward the HPG control room, one of his men came over the comm.

"Sir we have a lot of movement out here. We can't see anything on our scanners……" at that point the comm cut out.

At the same moment O'neil was entering the control room and realizing that the room had been completely cleared out. "Jonan, this place has been cleared out, and I think we have Blakeist _Purifiers_ out here," he said into the comm. Then his blood ran cold.

Jonan heard a garbled message over the comm. "I copy O'neil, pull your men out, over." There was no response. "O'neil, I said get your people out of there, over." Again, there was no answer. "Colin, if you can hear me, I'm sending help. Jube', get over there and get them out."

"_Hai._" The four jump cable 'Mechs, a _Thor, _a _Helios,_ a _Thunderbolt,_ and an _Ostscout, _lifted off toward the HPG station on ion jets.

"Artemis, prepare for indirect fire if needed," ordered Jonan.

With that, the LRM pods on the 2 _Longbows _and the Arrow IV launcher on the _Bowman_ swung open. The three 'Mechs turned toward the target area.

Colin heard the rhythmic rumble moments before his men radioed to tell him that Blakist 'Mechs were inbound. He ordered his men to take up defensible positions. When he made it to the front of the building he saw a nasty site. His men in their somewhat bulky _Grey Death_ Armor were fighting what seemed to be ghostly forms. The Blakist _Purifier Adaptive_ Battle Armor was covered with a mimetic armor that made the suits change color like a chameleon. His men were good, and they were trained to deal with _Purifiers,_ but that really didn't make it much easier to watch.

Colin did not know what kind of 'Mechs were on the way, but he did not care. Whatever they were, if his men were not ready, they would be dead one way or the other. When he made it outside, his men were surrounded by the _Purifiers_. Rumble of the 'Mechs was much closer.

Colin used the grenade launcher slung under his weapon to blast a hole on the left flank of the _Purifiers_. He moved his men down the street toward the spaceport. At that moment the first 'Mech rounded the corner.

The first thing Colin noticed was the Death's Head on top of the massive mech. Next he noticed the autocannon slung under the right arm and the pair of what looked like large lasers attached to the left. Colin had never seen an _Atlas_ variant like this before. The 100 ton assault 'Mech leveled the autocannon at Colin and fired a stream of depleted uranium shells at the Infantry commander.

Luckily for Colin, he had been able to jump out of the way just before the hail of death hit him. He hit the ground with a thud. The _Atlas_ leveled its large lasers at Colin. He was just able to dodge as the lasers vaporized the ferro-crete he was standing on. Then he heard the sound of 'Mech jump jets.

He thought _good Jube's lance is here._ What landed near him was not what he had expected. A 35 ton _Ostscout _landed and turned toward the assault mech. At first Colin could not figure out what was going on. _Why would that pilot commit suicide by attacking the _Atlas. Then it dawned on him. Over the comm he screamed from his men to get away from the _Atlas_. He jumped away, riding a rocket to safety from what was about to come.

Adept Wesley Jordan saw an _Ostscout_ land in front of him and turn toward him. His _Atlas II_ out weighted the light scout 'Mech by 65 tons. He turned his large lasers toward the much smaller mech. As he was about hit the firing stud he heard the sound of a truck flying toward him.

The Arrow IV missile was the first to hit the massive machine. It blasted armor across the 'Mechs torso. Wesley fought to keep the 'Mech standing. What came next was like hell raining from the sky. All he could say was "Blake's Blood." It seemed like hundreds of missiles came falling from the sky, pummeling his 'Mech.

After the barrage the _Atlas_ was no longer recognizable. Most of the armor was gone, and the internal structure was a twisted mess. During the barrage the 'Mech had fallen to the ground. It seemed to lie there for a moment before the shielding containing the fusion engine failed and the 'Mech was consumed by a furious explosion.

Jonan waited while his LRM launchers reloaded. He had seen the Blakist 'Mech's reactor go nova. He looked down the firing line. All of the 'Mechs in Jonan's command company had fired all of their LRMs at the Blakeist _Atlas._ "Tor, get your lance out there! I have a feeling Jube will need some help."

"Aff, Major." The four assault 'Mechs started off toward the growing battle.

"Ace, get your squadron in the air! I want you to make sure O'neil's withdraw is clear. If the Robes send up too many fighters, bug the hell out." Jonan continued to throw out his escape plan.

"Alright boss we'll bring them back," said Ace with a thick Davion accent.

Colin's head was in a haze. He thought he had gotten far enough away from the _Atlas_. The ringing in his ears told him he may not have. He heard a muffled disembodied voice in his head that he could not make out. He saw the horrific sight of what looked like _Purifiers_ splayed about around the wreckage of the fallen assault mech. As he regained his senses he saw a Thor in Moon Knight colors gesturing to him. He realized the voice in his head was Jube telling him to get his men together and back to the spaceport.

Jube registered O'neil's response and began to try to figure out where the Blakist 'Mechs were. A thick Davion accent came over the comm. "This is your eye in the sky. You have what looks like eleven mudbugs, err 'Mechs converging on your position. I suggest you head back toward the Drop Port."

Jube realized that he was about to be surrounded. Before he could act, one of his lance mates took a hit from the autocannons of a four-legged Sirocco. Jube thought that this was one of the ugliest 'Mechs to come on an assembly line, but it was deadly none the less. More Blakist assault 'Mechs moved into the area. The battle became a running fight as the mercs tried to move back to the spaceport. The addition of Tor's assault lance made the fight a little more equal and the help from Ace's fighter squadron the 'Mechs were able to get back to the spaceport.

Jonan gathered his troops on the tarmac in front of one of the Moon Knight dropships. "Well, I guess we aren't getting off the planet now. We are going to take these dropships and get out of the city. Until further notice, we will be operating from outside of town."


	5. Chapter 5

I don't own Battletech or Mechwarrior.

Chapter 4

_Nowhere_

_Solaris VII_

_Lyran Commonwealth_

_November 20, 3070_

The two Moon Knight dropships sat in the outskirts of Nowhere, a city north of Solaris City. That morning Jonan held a woefully inadequate funeral for the troopers that had lost their lives the day before. He had not been able to recover the bodies of all of the fallen. That hurt Jonan the most. The Word of Blake would pay for this.

Jonan's officers gathered in the ready room of the Union class dropship _Grimlock. _He turned to his XO Sarah Steiner. "We have an information leak. I need you to figure out where it's coming from and plug it with extreme prejudice. We've had this leak for awhile, but I let it go on because I wanted the Word to know a little of what we were doing. But I thought that I had taken adequate precautions to keep it from affecting the operations. I obviously did not do my job, and people died. I have to live with that, but not again. I want an airfield constructed so we can fly missions from here. The gloves come off now."

_Nowhere  
Solaris VII  
Lyran Commonwealth  
December 1, 3070_

Jonan stood looking over the airfield his people had built and hoped it would work for Ace's squadron. Trying to land a 100 ton aerospace fighter on a weak runway could be dangerous. It was good that it was done because Jonan was sick of cooling his heels until he could start running operations.

Jonan returned to the ready room on the _'lock_. He saw Sarah sitting in a seat in the front row of the auditorium. She walked over to him and handed him a report. Jonan looked it over and nodded.

Soon after that, the Moon Knight officers started to file into the ready room. He took his place up at the dais. "Well, looks like we might be ready to start operations," he began. He hit a button on the holo-projector to show a map of Solaris City. "Our first objective is to hurt their current air superiority. I'd like to hit them while most of their aerofighters are on the ground. Ace, I'll need you to fly in under the radar and hit them quick. The command company will draw their 'Mechs out and when that occurs, I need the rest of the battalion to smash them. Curtain goes up at 2400."

Don met his squadron in their ready room. He greeted the other flight leaders as they entered. First was Jess Carlisle, call sign "Raven." She had long black hair, and was dressed in a flight suit. The next pilot to arrive to the briefing was Anna Matthews, call sign "Mental." She was about 5 feet tall with short brown hair. She wore a flight suit unique to this unit, a Jade Falcon flight suit. The rest of the squadron filed in so that Don could give the briefing.

"Alright people, here's the mission. We're going to hit the Robes' main airfield. Mental, your flight will be carrying bombs to hit the fighters on the ground. Raven, you and your wingman will cover us in case they have any air cover. As for Speedbump and I, intel thinks they have a dropship, so we will carry Arrow IVs and try to take it out on the ground. Alright, watch each other's asses out there. Let's do this." At that the squadron headed to the makeshift hanger that had been constructed for the aerospace fighters.

As Don approached his _Stuka_ he saw some techs he did not know swarming around his fighter. Also Colin O'Neil and a couple of his infantry were standing watch over the activity. "What's going on here?" Don demanded.

"Just checking your load out," said O'Neil with a smirk.

Don looked at the ordinance that was being loaded onto his fighter. He noticed and sword and starburst insignia on them. "What is this? I've never seen these before," continued Don, starting to get angry.

"Those? Oh those are experimental anti-ship missiles courtesy of your Federated Suns."

The man standing next to O'Neil chuckled. "We were saving them for a special occasion, but I guess this will have to do."

"Where did you get them?" demanded Don again, the vein is his forehead beginning to bulge.

"Well there was this thing. Then "we" had them," said O'Neil conspiratorially. "We heard that you were going to try and take down a dropship, and we figured these would give you the edge. As you well know, those things go down hard."

"We also slung a TAG under your fighter so you can direct these babies to the target," added one of the techs.

Don looked at the fighter then looked back at the smirking spook. "Well they better work or I'll have all of your heads."

At that the techs packed up and left the freshly armed heavy fighter for Don to take control of.

Don joined his wingman Speedbump, flying an 85 ton _Shiva_ that was loaded down with Arrow IV missiles. They accelerated to catch up to Mental's _Visigoth_ and her wingman Slipstream's _Shilone._ Raven's flight consisted of a pair of _Daggers_. They were way out in front of the formation. They would fly low and hit the base with cluster munitions and incendiaries to cause havoc before the large aircraft arrived.

As the squadron approached the target they began to see the Moon Knight 'Mechs engaging Blakist 'Mechs on the ground below. Mental came over the comm. "After we get done with the mission are we going to help the mudbugs?"

"Mental, let's worry about the mission before we worry about the ground pounders. Jonan's men can take care of themselves," answered Raven.

"Approaching target," radioed Raven. "Dropping ordinance." The two light fighters dropped their bombs over the unsuspecting Blakist airbase. The incendiaries carried by Raven were dropped on ammo dump, the fuel stores and the fighters themselves. As the fuel and ammo began to cool off, the cluster munitions carried by Raven's wingman Corndog hit and sowed more confusion and chaos. After the bombing run, the two fighters climbed to a high altitude to wait for the heavier fighters.

Soon Mental and her wingman Slipstream flew over the base dropping their high explosive bombs. The bombs from the _Visigoth _carpeted over the fighters destroying or severely damaging almost every fighter on the ground. Slipstream's _Shilone _unleashed its bombs onto the runways, destroying the black tops and hit as many of the buildings he could.

Then a huge blast of smoke and dust flew up from the north end of the airstrip. "Ace, you'd better get here quick. The drop ship is an _Okinawa_ fighter carrier. And it's lifting off." The large spheroid dropship began to shudder as its massive engines strained to create enough thrust to lift it off the ground.

As it dropship began to lift, a pair of streaking missiles slammed into the side of the massive craft. "Woohoo!" yelled Speedbump as the pair of Arrow IVs took massive chunks of armor off the side of the ascending dropship. He then opened up with his full arsenal. The massive LB 20-X in the _Shiva's_ nose blasted another huge scar in the dropship's side armor. Speedbump's large lasers missed wide.

The dropship returned fire. It raked Speedbump's fighter with large lasers and PPCs. Their hits melted tons of armor from the front of the _Shiva_. LRMs from the _Okinawa_ caught up with the two _Daggers,_ smashing armor. After taking the brunt of the _Okinawa's_ energy weapons, Speedbump rolled away from the dropship.

After Speedbump rolled off his attack, a flight of LRMs from Ace's _Stuka_ chipped even more armor off the side of the _Okinawa._ _Well now it's time to try out these anti-ship missiles. _Don painted the dropship with the TAG on his nose. He launched the first AS missile. The missile fell of the rail and small stabilizing wings deployed. The missile sped toward the target, and slammed into the side of the dropship with hellish power. The dual warhead enclosed in the missile ripped through the side of the ship. The whole dropship shuddered with the impact of the AS missile. The dropship began to struggle to gain altitude. Don loosed the second missile and it sped toward the target. The missile again slammed through the armor of the dropship. The explosion ripped through the ship.

Time slowed down as the flames from the ship's massive engines died. The explosion from the missile obviously touched off an explosion of missile ammo inside the dropship. The ship began to crash back to the planet as it lost power. The dropship died as it returned to the planet.

"Alright people lets go see if we can't help out the ground pounders."

Mechwarrior Tor of the Ghost Bears sat in the command couch of his 85 ton _Warhawk_. He was using the primary configuration which sported four PPCs and an LRM 10. His lance was moving quickly through a thick wooded area. He had sent Daniels and his _Marauder II_ forward to investigate the ECM interference he was receiving, because it was the most heavily armored _'Mech_ of the lance and because it was his turn to spring whatever trap the Blakists had laid. Unfortunately contact had been lost with Daniels very quickly after he hit the ECM interference. They were moving in an inverted V formation with Francis in his _Atlas_ on his right and Jones in her _Battlemaster _on his left.

As they entered the area that the ECM covered, missiles slammed into the torso of the Francis' _Atlas_. A _Drillson _hover tank and a pair of _Myrmidons_ advanced toward the assault lance. "Francis, destroy these tanks. We will move toward Daniels." The monstrous _Atlas_ moved to deal with the tanks.

Tor and Jones approached the smoking ruins of a _'Mech_. A Blakist _Avatar_ stood where the _Marauder II_'s head had once been. Behind the _Avatar,_ three assault _'Mechs_ approached, a _Legacy,_ an _Awesome, _and a _Thug_. A _Marauder_ moved toward the lance as well as three more tanks. "To any Knights out there, my lance is seriously out gunned. We may need some assistance," radioed Tor.

Tor and Jones began to trade shots with the Blakist forces. They began to back up so they could meet up with Francis. Tor saw the destroyed tanks. The _Atlas_ had a few scars from fighting the tanks but looked to be in good shape. "All right, these _surats_ think they can hide behind ECM. Francis, switch yours to ECCM." Francis' move immediately canceled out the ECM covering the Blakist forces.

The _Avatar_ was the first to reach the three assault _'Mechs_. The three mercs made short work of the _Avatar_. The rest of the Blakist forces approached Tor's lance. They began to open up on the mercs. Just as the battle looked like it was unwinnable, a huge blast rocked the _Marauder_. A _Summoner _riding on ion jets landed next to the moon night mechs.

"Good morning Tor-sama, I see you need a little help." Sho Takagi's command lance moved into the area and evened the odds against the Blakists.

"Thank you for arriving in a timely manner. I will destroy the _Thug_." Tor used his targeting computer to focus his fire onto the center torso of the Star League era _'Mech_. Tor unleashed a hellish Alpha Strike on the center of the _Thug_. The _'Mech_ shuddered from the assault from 4 PPCs. The LRMs were the final nail in the coffin as they pierced they destroyed the gyros that kept the _Thug _standing.

Tor turned his _Warhawk_ to see how the battle was going. He marched back to the fight stepping on a _Condor_ tank as he moved back into the fight. Tor and the Moon Knight _'Mechs_ mopped up the rest of the Blakist forces.


	6. Chapter 6

I don't own Battletech or Mechwarrior if I did I probably not live in a one bedroom apartment across the street from a Wal-Mart

Nowhere  
Solaris VII  
Lyran Commonwealth  
December 10, 3070

Jonan had been laying low over the last week after the full scale pitched battle with the Blakists. It had been grueling work to get his 'Mechs back up to fighting shape. He mourned the death of Daniels, but he needed his lances up to strength. He had moved Anderson's Clan made Gladiator into Tor's Lance, but he was not sure how he was going to fill the open slot in the Shock Lance in Hasek's company. He had contacted Eric Grey of the Solaris Home Defense League, and Grey had at least agreed to a meeting.

Jonan, Sarah, and David climbed into a VTOL owned by Jonan. They were dressed in MechWarrior togs with long coats over their cooling vests. Jonan wanted to be ready if they had to rush back to base camp. "Alright, I don't know what kind of piss ant, fool ass amateurs Grey has working for him so I guarantee nothing."

"Well since I just gave you one of my men I hope you can find me a replacement," David said sarcastically. "But seriously, these guys have been fighting the wobbies for a few years now, so they have to have a few competent MechWarriors."

"The biggest problem you're going to face is, assuming Grey has some decent warriors, will he part with them?" added Sarah. "I figure the only guy that Grey will give us will be useless."

"Well we'll see. I don't know Eric Grey, but if he wants to dislodge the robes he'll do whatever it takes to keep us in the fight."

The VTOL landed outside of Eric Grey's headquarters. Eric Grey wore a business suit and looked more like a lawyer then man fighting a war. Jonan did not know Grey at all. All that Jonan knew was that Eric had the largest number of resistance forces fighting under his flag. Jonan, providing a stark contrast in his fighting clothes, walked up and shook the man's hand.

Eric led them into a conference room so that they could do business. "To what do I owe the honor, Major Gregor?"

"Well, Eric, it seems that we have a common enemy in the Word of Blake Militia, and I thought that we should coordinate our efforts more. I am also in need of a new pilot. In our last action against the Blakists, one of my veterans fell to an ambush. I'm not looking to take one of your veterans, but I gather that you know many of the warriors here and you might be able to point me in the right direction."

"Of course, Jonan…."

At that Jonan cut him off. "You may refer to me as 'Major'. When and if I see that you are more than a glory hounding lawyer playing at war you may address me as 'Jonan'. "

Eric looked a bit flustered and taken aback by Jonan's remark but continued. "I'm sorry, Major; I was going to say that any help you could give us would be greatly appreciated. Your unit has a sterling reputation, and it is unfortunate about your pilot. I will see if I can find any MechWarriors in town that may fit what you are looking for. I will send you a list of freelancers who are not currently fighting for me."

"That sounds good. I will be in contact so that we may hammer out how we will help each other fight the Blakist threat," ended Jonan. With that the meeting ended as quickly as it began.

Nowhere  
Solaris VII  
Lyran Commonwealth  
December 10, 3070

Chris Gamorra looked on in disgust as the new heavy 'Mech was being painted in Ghost Knight colors. The 'Mech looked ancient. _It has to be at least four hundred years old._ He looked over the 'Mech, noting that it was obviously heavily modified. Each arm ended in a rotary autocannon. Each autocannon had an under slung laser, probably mediums. He saw a laser in each torso and a SRM 4 pack on the right shoulder. It was an impressive load out. Chris wondered what had been given up to allow for such a heavy weapons load.

Jonan walked up to Chris. "Do you recognize it?" asked Jonan.

Chris gave a shrug.

"It's a _Hammerhands_. I saw one in a museum on New Avalon once. It was one of the first Battlemechs produced by the Federated Suns."

"Well, Jonan, thank you for that pointless bit of information. I was wondering why with the opening in your assault lance I didn't get a shot at the spot. And then I see this….antique, this museum piece. I'm forced to wonder if you even know what you're doing running this unit."

Jonan snorted. "Well I'm sorry my methods are not satisfactory to you. Next time I decide who I trust at my back you will be the first person whose opinion I'll ask. As for this 'antique' as you call it. It is upgraded with the latest tech. The pilot seems to know what he's doing in a fight. And, unlike you, he knows his place in the chain of command. And don't worry; I haven't forgotten that I told you I would find you a new 'Mech to replace the _Spirit_. But, as you well know, we haven't had much of a chance to salvage many of the Blakist 'Mechs. Oh and one more thing. I'm reassigning the lances to an organization more suited to fight in the situation we have been presented." At that Jonan handed Chris a detailed new TO&E of the battalion.

Chris looked over the list and noticed that he was getting some of the heavier machines in his new company.

"Oh and Gamorra, I've got a job for you. It seems the Word is rounding up people and putting them in a reeducation camp near Solaris City. I want you to put together an Op to liberate the camp. Do that and then you might get some recognition around here."

Sorry for the long wait life and writers block happened.


End file.
